by Jessa Russo
“Aha. I see the two of you aren’t as dense as you look. Had you stayed away from Toby, he would have been in and out in a matter of days. Frankie would be adjusting to his new home, and Toby would be off to the next town, actively meeting his quotas and staying focused. But he just couldn’t resist that silly little innocence thing you’ve got going on. He’s a sucker for wide eyes and zero world experience. You fit the bill perfectly. All naïve and clueless.”
“Ha! Listen up, bitch. Ever obviously has something you don’t have. And I’m not talking beauty, brains, or class, because those go without saying. I’m talking about the one thing you want most in the world. Toby.”
Jessie was standing now, staring down at a very irritated Ariadne. I felt the tension building between them, and Ariadne had a weird twitch going on in her left temple. Jessie struck a nerve, and I could tell it was about to come to a head between the two of them. One point for our team, I guessed, but I wanted to prevent the two of them from coming to blows in Toby’s living room.
“Okay, okay, Jess. Thanks for defending me, but let’s all try to stay focused.” I was tempted to add that, for the record, Toby didn’t have me, but I withheld that bit to let Ariadne stew in it a little longer. Toby as leverage was the only upper hand we had. “So, Toby got distracted or whatever, and Ted called Greg. What was he supposed to do, come get Frankie?”
“Yes. And how hard could that be, right? Then he meets the bubblegum fairy over here and that plan goes to shit, too. I swear, it’s like the two of you dimwitted morons have magical powers or something.” The insults flew right past Jessie. I saw by the glimmer of hope in her eyes and the slight tilt of her head that all she’d heard was that she’d been the cause of Greg’s plan ‘going to shit.’ It gave me hope that even if my relationship with Toby had been ruined, maybe Jessie and Greg stood a chance at working things out.
“Somehow, both Toby and Greg came to get Frankie, and neither one of them succeeded. Because of us.” I found that strange, being the more insecure of Jessie and me, but I continued. “Why didn’t Ted just do the job himself?”
“Like I said, hon, no one knows why Ted does or doesn’t do things.”
“Then you showed up. Why?” I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear her say it. Because I’m a glutton for punishment.
“I came for Toby. I didn’t care why Toby was here—his jobs have nothing to do with me. I had some free time between gigs, and figured I’d seek him out. When I arrived … ugh. I couldn’t believe he was so hung up on you. I had to see you for myself, see what was so amazing about you. I followed you to the library that day. I watched you for hours, trying to figure it out. I couldn’t, obviously.” She waved a hand in my direction, as if it was so obvious that there was nothing to be hung up over. “And then I think, ‘hmmm, maybe she’s surprisingly intelligent.’ So I come a little closer, check out your reading materials. Is it Jane Eyre? Moby Dick? Or even Hamlet? No. It’s a freaking book about vampires going to a private vampire school.” She paused again to look up at me. “You do know there is no such thing as private vampire schools, correct? Ugh. I can’t even begin to tell you the horror of finding him all hung up on someone as simple as you.
“So, I’m sitting there watching you for hours—which you have to understand is excruciating—and I finally decide Toby’s lost his mind, and it’s my job to fix that. It would have been fine. I would have had him focusing on me again in no time, if you hadn’t shown up at that party.”
Toby and Ariadne getting back together was not the important part of this story, nor was it the reason we were there talking to her. But I couldn’t help but take the bait. She’d gotten under my skin, and a girl can take only so much.
“You know, Ariadne, I’m pretty sure Toby finds you repulsive. Whether I’d been in the picture or not, you didn’t stand a chance at getting him back. That ship, as they say, has sailed. And sunk. And is currently rotting in the bottom of the metaphorical ocean.”
She didn’t move. Only her eyes showed she was listening; they narrowed into tiny slits. Then her mouth curved up into a sly smile.
“Had you been in his bedroom with us that morning before the library, Ever, I think you’d have seen that his ship was very much not at the bottom of the ocean. His ship was indeed sailing. Full mast.”
“Ugh! You are disgusting, Ariadne. And frankly, I’m not surprised that you have to use your body to get a guy to pay attention to you. Your personality is as appealing as a pile of dog shit. But really, we don’t have to listen to this, and you clearly aren’t planning on giving us any useful information. Come on, Ev.”
“Hmm. Seems I struck a nerve with our sweet, innocent Eleanor here.”
“Ever?”
The morning before the library. As I was taking care of my mom. And my house. And my broken life. Toby and Ariadne were having sex in the very house next door. Having sex. And then he came back into my life. He apologized. He told me he loved me. He … .
Oh, god. I almost had sex with him. Just hours after he’d been with her!
”Hon, did you really think he hadn’t been with anyone else? I mean, you two were broken up. And we do have a history, so …” she paused, waiting for me to say something. “Oh. That’s sweet. You actually had thought that. Your naivety has no end, does it?”
“Ev, seriously, let’s just go. We don’t need to talk to Ariadne. She’s not giving us any information we don’t already know.”
Jessie’s hand was on my arm, and I looked at her standing next to me. She pleaded with her eyes, urging me to give up this silly quest for answers. She was right. Ariadne was just using this time to hurt us both. But if I wasn’t ready to go to Toby with my questions before, I was even less ready now.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself to continue, and sat down next to Ariadne on the couch. So what if she’d hooked up with Toby again? It wasn’t my business any longer. I’d decided the fate of my relationship with Toby, and he was no longer my concern. Setting that decision aside, I focused on the task at hand. I cleared my throat, preparing my voice not to crack and give away my distress, and continued. “You turned Frankie human. Tell me why.”
“You know why, Ever. Don’t be coy; it doesn’t suit you.”
“I want to hear you tell me why.”
“Well, I should think that it’s obvious, but whatever. It was your birthday, and I didn’t want to be the only one at the party without a gift. Seeing as how you have terrible choice in clothing and literature, I asked myself, ‘what would be the next best thing?’ Naturally, I came to Frankie. So, surprise!”
“You wanted Toby back, which clearly wasn’t going to happen unless you fought dirty. So you brought out the big guns. Because clearly, if Frankie were suddenly an option, I’d leave Toby and you’d have him back to yourself. What you failed to calculate is the fact that he finds you disgusting and desperate and whether or not I’m in the picture, you will still be the pathetic ex-girlfriend who whores herself out to get what she wants.”
I looked at Jessie and headed to the door.
“We’re done here, Ariadne. You win. Toby is no longer spoken for. But mark my words; he will never be yours. You lack the one thing needed to get him back … a soul.”
Ariadne’s laughter stopped me in my tracks, my hand frozen on the doorknob. Jessie practically ran into me.
“Soul.” She said the word slowly, tasting it, feeling it in her mouth as if it was new and foreign to her. “Your choice of words amuses me. I may not have Toby yet, but don’t think you’ve won.”
I wanted to laugh in her face, but I refrained. Must have been this new adult me, but it felt like a victory taking the moral high ground. I began to open the door.
“You didn’t really think I’d just give you something for nothing, did you? Like we’re such good friends?” The hardness in her voice pulled at me.
I turned and looked at her beautiful, ruthless face.
“Awww, you did! That’s just adorable.”
“You didn�
��t give me anything,” I said. Oh, wait. Frankie. “Well, technically you gave Frankie back his life … or a chance at a new one … but—”
“Exactly.”
She rose from the couch. Every step she took toward me was deliberate. Every word she spoke was as sharp as a knife to my soul. Her sexy pout was now a hard line.
“I can take that gift back any time I want.”
She was baiting me again. I didn’t want to stay, but I was unable to convince myself to open the door and leave. Something tugged at me, an unknown truth about to be revealed. So I waited. I tried to return her hard stare, tried to look as determined and ruthless as she was.
“Now that I have your attention, little girl, I’ll explain one thing. You came here for answers, and I’ll give you just this one. I gave Frankie his life back. I gave you a gift. But I am far from selfless, and my gift comes with a price. You’re just naïve enough to think that Toby is the price for my kindness. Guess again, hon.”
Jessie quickly sucked in a breath, bracing herself for what we were about to hear.
I knew we should leave. Leaving would have protected us from the terrifying words I knew Ariadne was about to say. But again, my feet were reluctant to move. Jessie placed her hand on my arm and gave me a squeeze, knowing I was as afraid as she was.
“Here’s a lesson for you. Consider it my second gift. You don’t get something for nothing. Not in your world, and not in mine. You get to keep Frankie now. But what will you give me in return?” She paused, letting the words sink in and waiting for the information to click in my brain.
I sucked in a breath, knowing what she was going to say before she even said it.
“An eye for an eye, Eleanor.”
Jessie had always been the bubbly, confident one. The girl with the sharp wit and million-dollar smile, who shines like a hundred-watt light bulb. I’m somewhat of the opposite—not dark per se, but a little darker than Jessie. I’m a little more into black than most, a little quieter than some, and slightly prone to the occasional outburst of punching someone. Jessie has never hurt anyone with more than smiles and flattery.
So I’m sure anyone would understand why I was a bit surprised to find myself in my kitchen, sitting with her while she nursed her bruised hand.
“That bitch had it coming. I am not apologizing.”
“No one is asking you to, Jess. I’m just wondering if maybe we should have held off on the punching until she’d actually given us something to go on.”
“Eff that. She’s not going to give us any information, Ever. Come on.”
“Well, since we have absolutely no idea what any of this means or what will happen next, I think we need to go back over there.”
“What? Oh, Ever, you can’t be—she looked at me, realizing I was dead serious—”No. I’m not kidding, Ev. I won’t apologize to her.”
“Fine. Then I will apologize for you, and you can stay here.”
“Yeah right. Like I’m going to let you go back over there by yourself.” She removed the Ziploc baggie of ice and stretched her swollen hand, slowly moving each finger. “My hand hurts.”
“Huh. I can’t imagine why.”
“Oh, like you weren’t about to do the same thing. I saw your face.”
“Yeah, she’s lucky the guys came back when they did. Between the two of us crazy bitches, she wouldn’t have known what hit her.”
“Exactly. But now I’m the only one with a swollen hand. It’s throbbing like its having its own little heart attack. Is that normal?”
“Yeah. Sorry. But thanks for coming to my defense.”
“Please. It was nothing. Oh, hey, I forgot to ask you how your mom was this morning. She okay? We were all kind of um … shocked last night.”
Oh. My mom.
“Well, last night she was a mess. She took a few sleeping pills and curled up in the fetal position.”
“Oh, geez.”
“It gets better. This morning, she has absolutely no idea what’s going on and is acting like everything is completely normal. Like, I walk into the kitchen and they’re all sitting at the table. Frankie, who is very obviously no longer a ghost, my mom, who’s all smiles and sparkle, and … you’ll die … guess who else was there? Ariadne.”
“What? How did you not tell me this sooner?”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. So there they all sit, in my kitchen. She’s even sitting in my dad’s chair.”
Jessie’s mouth dropped open, rightly so.
“They’re all drinking coffee and talking about how Sharon’s flowers were trampled on by Bonnie’s dog. As if that has any importance compared to what’s going on in our own home. My mom’s just sitting there, happy as a clam.”
It sounded even more ridiculous saying it all out loud, but Jessie’s expression turned dark. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Oh, Ever. Your poor mom. I can’t even imagine what she’s going through. After your dad … and now this?”
“I know.”
“What are you going to do?” She looked at me expectantly.
I was unfairly irritated by her question, but I couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Why did everything have to fall on my shoulders? Why did I have to take care of my mom? Why did I have to find all the answers? Why me?
“What is it, Ever?
“Nothing, Jess. I’m just frustrated, that’s all. This whole thing is such a mess.”
“I know. So what now?”
“I don’t know, Jess. I don’t know.”
“Well, I for one could stand a little distraction. Let’s go out tonight.”
“Seriously? Our boyfriends—”
“Ex,” she clarified for me adamantly. “They are our ex-boyfriends.”
“Well, I haven’t officially broken things off with Toby.”
“Ev, I think it goes without saying, don’t you? I mean, after everything he’s caused!”
“Yes, Jess, but you get my point. We just found out that Toby and Greg are soul collectors, which in itself is a huge thing. On top of that, Frankie is no longer a ghost, and my mom has completely checked out of reality. Oh! And my soul is up for grabs or something. You think now is a good time to go out?”
“Actually, yes. I think it’s the perfect time to go out. First of all, you can’t change what Toby and Greg are. Or whatever the hell is going on there. You certainly can’t change what happened to Frankie … unless you kill him, of course, and I definitely don’t see you doing that. And third, you can’t help your mom face this stuff, Ever. She has to come to grips with it on her own.”
She had a point. But a night out? Seriously? It just didn’t seem like the right thing to do.
“Actually, I have an idea.”
Uh oh.
“When’s the last time Frankie went out, Ev?”
“Um. That’s kind of rhetorical.”
“Exactly. We’re taking Frankie out tonight. There’s a party in Costa Mesa.”
“Did I just hear you girls say you’re taking me out tonight?”
“Frankie! Yes!” Jessie’s eyes lit up as she turned to watch him come in from the garage, hands full of shopping bags. “Oh look, you went shopping! Perfect. Go get dressed and meet us back here at seven. Ev, I’m running home. See you guys in a few hours!”
“But—”
The look she gave me on her way out the door could have cut glass.
To say I was reluctant to go out for a night of fun amidst all the chaos of my life was putting it mildly. But when I saw Frankie’s face light up at the prospect, I couldn’t deny him. I was sure Jessie had known that would be the case. Fine. I’ll play along.
But there was something I had to do first.
I told Frankie as little as possible, then headed outside. He could probably tell by my voice or the somber look on my face, where I was headed. He didn’t question me.
Thinking twice about knocking on the door and risking catching the wrath of Ariadne, I snuck around the side of the house. I was almost to Toby’
s window when I heard his voice.
“Please, just let me try to fix things with her first.”
His words carried through the open window, and I paused, afraid he and whoever he was talking to would see me. I knew I should leave, and I was shocked at myself for staying to spy on Toby again. But I couldn’t seem to make myself leave. Something kept me there, hiding outside his window in broad daylight. I felt like maybe I’d learn one of the truths I was searching for. Like maybe by eavesdropping, I would learn more than Toby would tell me himself.
I would not be ashamed. I needed answers.
“It’s done, Tobias. As soon as I have this mess sorted out, we’re leaving. The time that takes is all the time you will have. My priority is fixing this situation with Ariadne, not worrying about your love life. This has gotten far too out of hand.”
“You don’t think I know how out of hand this is? Give me some credit, Ted! What Ariadne did … well, I can’t even wrap my mind around it. She’s completely psychotic!”
“Is she now? What about you, Tobias? Have you not also lost sight of your work, made the wrong choices when it comes to this girl? I don’t see much difference between you and Ariadne right now.”
Me. They’re talking about me.
Someone walked to the window, and I held my breath. I heard Toby sigh. Then, remarkably, Ted sighed as well.
“This is my fault, Tobias.” He was calmer, more relaxed. He sounded almost sympathetic.
I tilted my head, my brow crinkled in confusion.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here. I should have known what would happen.”
“What do you mean? How could you possibly—?”
“Just believe me when I tell you that I’m sorry. For all of this. But I can’t allow you to stay here any longer than necessary, Tobias. Tell the girl what you will; I won’t ask you not to. But as soon as I’ve fixed the mess Ariadne has created, we’re gone.”
“I can’t leave.”
“I know.”
After a few long seconds passed, I began to wonder if they had left the room.
“I love her.” Toby’s voice was quiet, almost timid.
